Turning back the tapes of time

In a dimly lit theater, the crackle of an old cassette tape comes to life, and suddenly the 1980s campus folk music era isn't just a memory — it's a performance.

Singer-songwriter Xiao Ke's new musical, Campus Folk Songs, has opened at the Xiao Ke Theater, inviting audiences to retrace a time when mainland Chinese students discovered hits from Taiwan, strummed guitars on dorm rooftops, and fell in love with the sound of folk melodies. Premiering on June 6 and running until July 9 with weekend shows, the production celebrates a generation's youthful rebellion, tender romances, and the magic of music that once traveled across time and places.

The musical was inspired by a real-life story Xiao Ke heard during a trip to Xiamen, Fujian province, in 2025.

"I met an alumnus of Xiamen University," Xiao Ke recalls. "Hearing his story about songs, tapes, and students back in the 1980s felt like stepping into a time machine. It reminded me of my parents' youthful years in Fuzhou's song-and-dance troupe. So much has been lost, but music allows us to hold onto it."

Set in 1987, Campus Folk Songs follows Xiao Mu, a university student in Beijing, who falls in love with the hits of a Taiwan singer and traces the songs' origins, journeying from Beijing to Xiamen and discovering more melodies along the way.

Xiao Ke re-created the 1980s musical landscape with meticulous care, prioritizing melody over modern, rhythm-heavy production. The show blends 11 songs, including original compositions and reimagined classics. One standout, Wandering Child, written by Xiao Ke as a teenager, has been adapted to capture the bittersweet longing of people returning to the Chinese mainland from Taiwan. Another, Poetry, stitches together lines from the decade's most influential poets, echoing the fusion of literary and musical passions that defined the era.

Rehearsals themselves have been emotional. Cast members were moved to tears during renditions of Message Across the Sea, highlighting the enduring resonance of these melodies.

"At its heart, Campus Folk Songs is both homage and historical record," Xiao Ke says. "Through these stories, I preserve the spirit of a generation for a new audience. The actors may be decades younger than their characters, but with guidance, they inhabit a time when a tape carried not just music, but dreams, longing, and connection."

Xiao Ke also collaborated with longtime friend Ye Bei on the theme song, Thank You for Letting Me Meet You, capturing a pivotal moment when the characters face their lowest ebb. "This is not a love song," Xiao Ke says. "It is written for everyone who has helped me through the first half of my life, and for all the experiences that shaped me into who I am today."

Ye recalls the collaboration fondly: "We didn't need formalities or small talk — just come in and sing. I sat at the mixing desk, he stood at the microphone, and everything felt right. Sitting in the audience at the premiere, it was like opening an old photo album — seeing the actors live out the impulsiveness, passion, confusion, and determination of youth was both funny and moving. Even the laughter carried the sincerity of those years. It felt like looking across time at my younger self."

Xiao Ke, whose real name is Ke Zhaolei, is best known for folk and pop songs. Born in Beijing, Xiao Ke was trained in classical music. He started learning the piano at 12, and formed his first band at age 19 after falling in love with rock music. He has worked in the music business ever since. The singer-songwriter's eponymous album was released in 1996, and he has also written songs for pop stars, including Because of Love for pop diva Faye Wong and Hong Kong singer Eason Chan. One of his most famous songs is Beijing Welcomes You, which was played to mark the 100-day countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

His involvement in theater began in 2007 and about 15 years ago, he launched Xiao Ke Theater which is located in Beijing's 798 Art Zone, which has staged more than 10 Chinese musicals, all written by him.

"I've always loved theater, and musicals in particular. With the money I earned from my music career I launched the theater, which I wanted to be a place for my independent songwriting," he says. "It's pure love and no compromising."

Beyond Campus Folk Songs, Xiao Ke has an ambitious year ahead. In October, Journey to the West (Xiyou Duji) will premiere at Xiao Ke Theater. Inspired by Broadway's Hamilton, Xiao Ke stripped the sprawling epic to its emotional core, focusing on the evolving bond between Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong, and reimagining Zhu Bajie in a fresh light. Advanced 3D technology will re-create the mythical flights and battles of the story, pushing technical boundaries.

Xiao Ke's first opera, The Last Lover, turns to the future rather than the past. "With AI and brain-computer interfaces, will pure humans become rare? If minds can be implanted with chips, will most people be half-human, half-machine? And in such a world, whose logic — robotic reason or human emotion — should prevail?" The opera imagines a world with only one man and one woman left, exploring love, humanity, and what it means to be truly human.

Xiao Ke composed both the lyrics and the music himself, describing the score as intricate and boundary-pushing. AI has been indispensable in realizing his vision, generating vocal parts he cannot sing. "Without AI, I couldn't have written this opera," he admits. Yet, he stresses that AI is a creative assistant, not a replacement: "The soul of a song still lies in the words and music. AI helps me hear it fully, but it doesn't write for me. Misusing it to claim others' work as your own crosses both legal and ethical lines."

Reflecting on his two-decade-long career, Xiao Ke says, "I entered the pop music scene in 1995, began composing musicals in 2007, and now writing an opera is a brandnew challenge — a way to break ground and explore uncharted creative territory."